


Fool me once, fool me twice

by horsefacewriter



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Age Difference, Coffee Shops, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Levi/Eren Yeager, what is a plot and do i really need one?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 13:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7716658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horsefacewriter/pseuds/horsefacewriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So there he was, running to the best of his ability through a city he had left behind all those years ago. Soon enough he saw the café where he was supposed to meet his long awaited and painful past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fool me once, fool me twice

**Author's Note:**

> i started this so long ago i can't remember where i was going with it :^) but i liked the overall feel so here, enjoy.

Eren was sitting at the café awkwardly awaiting his, he wouldn’t dare to call it a _date_ but that was basically how it was. He was waiting for his date. He had dismissed the waiter twice already, explaining he was waiting for someone. The waiter had just rolled their eyes, letting him sit there for a while longer if he promised he would order something before leaving.

_He's late._

It’s 37 minutes since they were supposed to meet –Eren had been counting– so his hope of him actually showing up was getting lower by the moment. He had gotten there early so he wouldn't be late like he always was. Though, he wouldn’t give it up just yet, something could have happened, that just couldn't be ignored, for all he knew. It is not like he wasn’t used to the constant waiting for him anyway, so what’s a few more minutes in the grand scale of things.

 

The snow was terrible. Levi had never been one in favour for winter, and now he was forced outside when heavy snow was falling down, sticking to his coat and getting in his face, to do exactly what he could do at home; drink coffee. He knew he was really late, which he rarely ever was, but icy streets full of people out to do their early Christmas shopping made it hard to get anywhere fast enough. And the business meeting that should only have lasted an hour doubled because of some pointless disagreement.

So there he was, running to the best of his ability through a city he had left behind all those years ago. Soon enough he saw the café where he was supposed to meet his long awaited and painful past.

 

Eren had been staring at the door as soon as he heard the tiny bell ring whenever it opened, this time was no exception. In came a man who clearly detested the weather, he was furiously trying to dust all the snow covering him off of him as soon as possible as if he felt filthy covered in it. When he took his hat and scarf off Eren saw beautiful straight black hair with a distinct undercut.

 _Could it be him?_  

The man he’d been staring at with interest turned around to meet his curious gaze. He saw recognition in grey eyes, and it soon reached his lips where a small smile started to spread. Eren could not help but smile back.

 

All Levi’s anger about the weather disappeared as soon as he saw that friendly face he knew all so well. It had changed, he knew, but he could not feel anything but happy that he agreed to do this when he saw Eren. He knew he should not be this happy, but he just could not resist, because now Eren was within his grasp once more.

He walked over to the brunet that just sat there, grinning stupidly at him.

_God his eyes are beautiful._

He wanted to hug the brunet, but as he hadn’t made any move to stand up to greet him, Levi settled with just sitting down on the only available chair, across from Eren, much to his disappointment.

Levi  inspected Eren more closely now that he was seated. Eren’s hair was much longer than he could recall, tied lazily into a bun. His features had also matured, making him so much more handsome than Levi could remember. He was still wearing the same kind of clothes though, loose and comfy, not really caring what others thought of him, a feature Levi adored about Eren. He was wearing one of those ugly Christmas sweaters that you see in the store and think _who the hell buys that_. Eren buys that. As Levi’s eyes trailed down Eren’s figure he noticed something.

“Haven’t you ordered yet?” Levi asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well I was actually--” Eren started to explain but came to a halt. “Wait, is that really the first thing you’re going to say to me after all this time? No greetings or maybe an excuse?” He wasn't smiling anymore. Hadn’t Levi thought of him at all? Did he only think of grabbing a quick cup of coffee and be gone again.

“I’m sorry Eren, I really am. Let us start over.” Levi cleared his throat and resituated himself on his chair. “Hello Eren, I’m terribly sorry I’m this fucking late, how can I ever repay you?” he was honest with his words, he was sorry for breaking the brunets trust even more than he already had. If he had any left to break after what he did.

Eren looked down at his hands in his lap and blushed. How could Levi still affect him this much after all this time apart?

“You could always buy me a cup of coffee, the waiter probably won’t come by anytime soon, so you’ll have to go up to the counter and get it.” he looked up to see a hint of amusement in those almost intimidating grey eyes.

“The usual?” Levi asked as he stood up.

Eren breathed out a small “Yeah.” as Levi made his way to order their coffee.

 _The usual?_ _What is wrong with me?!_ Levi was beating himself up as he ordered their coffee. He’d spent so much time trying to forget, but he still remembered trivial things like _this._ Who remembers how someone wants their coffee after they break their hearts and dump them?

After some time waiting, since Eren’s choice always was a bit complicated, he got their beverages and went back to the table where Eren was waiting for him. Eren himself looked like he’d done some thinking of his own and the usual grin he wore was replaced with a look of sadness. Levi offered him his coffee in silence and sat down without a word.

The atmosphere between them was tense. There was too much between them that happened and the public place didn’t offer them much room for outbreaks, which had been how most of their recent conversations had ended. Levi knew that if he had agreed to meet up with Eren anywhere private, there would be some serious yelling going on, and he just couldn’t let too much resurface. He couldn’t take it. Not now. Not again. He had come too far to look back. They were here to talk, and hopefully separate at better terms than last, and close some old wounds.

“So, how long has it been?” Levi knew the answer to this question all too well himself, down to the hour in fact, but he just needed to break the awkward silence between them.

“5 years and 2 months. 5 years and not a single call, Levi. A text, shit, anything would’ve worked just to know that you were still alive after that crap you pulled,” Eren bit hard on his lip in an attempt to suppress the angry tears threatening to surface. Eren always was an angry crier, however much he tried to deny it and cover it.

“I’m--” Levi took a deep breath. “Eren, look. I did it for your own good. You and I were never going to work, and by leaving you I thought I did you a favour,”

“A favour!?” Eren shouted, attracting looks from people at the tables closest to them.

“Ssssh, Eren please. Try to understand,” In a desperate attempt to calm the younger Levi grabbed Eren's hand, holding it firmly. It seemed to somewhat work.

“I have tried. I have tried for so long. But I just don’t understand why you would do something like that. You said you loved me.” Eren had placed his other hand over Levi’s, desperately holding on as if to make sure Levi wouldn’t disappear again.

“I did love you, Eren. I truly and deeply did. But your father never approved of me, and the age gap is just too big. Eren, listen to me. I did this for you, giving you a chance to live a normal life. I was hindering you from that. I know I fucked up at the end. I shouldn't have done it like I did, and I'm so fucking sorry for that.” He wasn’t lying, but it also wasn’t the truth. Using past tense hurt Levi more than he wanted to admit to himself, but he needed to close these old wounds, not opening them more.

Tears had started to fall across Eren’s cheeks as Levi spoke. Levi slowly wiped them away with his hand, a useless excuse to touch the face he had missed more than he wanted to acknowledge.

“Sssh, Eren, don’t do this here, not now. I didn’t want to come back to hurt you even more than I obviously have.” He pulled away to bring forth a tissue that he held out to Eren. “Here, use this. You look gross.” Eren looked anything but gross but it did make the younger give off a ghost of a smile. An Eren without a smile upon his face isn't Eren.

Eren whipped away his tears and picked up his coffee and gulped the sickly sweet beverage. If it was sweet, it was good enough to put into his coffee, if it even could be called coffee anymore.

“I heard you have a wife.” Eren stated, not really knowing where he was going with it, he just wanted to leave the past. To not talk about that time. That time when he fucked up so bad.

“I do.” Levi was a bit startled Eren knew this much about his current life, but he said no more.

Eren looked at him shyly over the brim of his cup. “How is she?”

“She’s-- well, Petra is doing great,” Eren didn’t say anything after that, just silently sitting there drinking his coffee.

“Eren. I get the feeling you didn’t call me after so long just to ask me about my wife and get me to pay for that pseudo cup of coffee.” Levi was tired of this game, he wanted to know why he actually was here.

Eren put his coffee down and gave Levi a stern look. ”Are you happy?”

“Yes, I’m happy. I’ve moved on, and so should you. I merely came here as an old friend, nothing more.”

_Liar._

“So my feelings mean nothing to you?” There was no anger or sadness apparent in Eren’s voice. It was just a low murmur, barely audible.

“I do care. But I have a new life now.” Levi was fighting a battle he knew he was losing. The more Eren talked the more he wanted to shelter him from any pain in the world. He wanted to take back anything he had said and done to hurt him and just hold him. To kiss the aching pain away from him until he smiled again. Eren without a huge smile wasn’t Eren.  “Eren, it was just a stupid teenage fling, nothing more.”

“Stupid teenage _fling_? Who do you-- Just because I was 17 doesn’t mean I was stupid. And you certainly aren't. I know what I felt and I know what I feel. It’s always been you! No matter what it is always you. You know that.” Eren kept his voice down this time. Knowing fully well that others were listening.

“Eren we can’t--”

“Why not?”

Levi fell silent. All reasons he’d told himself through the years were gone. He had nothing to defend himself with. Nothing. A part of him was telling him that Eren was the one he’d always wanted, but the other half tried to reason with him, telling him that he had a wife waiting for him back home. A normal life. One without the drama and the pain.

“Eren--” He had nothing to say so he stopped.

“Can we leave. Go somewhere else? People are starting to stare a bit too much.” Eren for once was the more sensible one of the two. Levi just nodded as he started to put on his coat. He had barely touched his own coffee, so he took a few large gulps of it before they made their way towards the exit.

Outside the street had become less crowded and the snow had calmed and was slowly falling from the sky.

The two started walking aimlessly, not saying much, just sharing some memories of the past 5 years. Eren told him about his graduation, about college and what his friends were up to. Nothing too up-close and personal. Not a word mentioned about his parents. Levi in turn talked about his new job and his annoying neighbours. They walked for a long time, through parks and shopping streets. Just the two of them and not a bother in the world. None of them wanting it to end. None of them thinking about the aching pain in their chests.

Levi didn’t want to ruin the moment, but he knew he had to. “I should get back to the hotel. I’ve got work in the morning.”

“Can I walk you there?” Eren looked down on the ground, trying to hide the flush on his face.

“Sure. It’s this way.” Levi turned left around the corner and missed the look of genuine shock of the other who stood frozen to the ground for a few seconds. “Are you coming or not?” Levi shouted back at him, not looking back as he walked. Eren didn’t wait long, he took a few quick steps so he could catch up to where Levi was at.

“How long are you staying in town?”  

“I’m here until next Saturday, strictly for work.” Levi saw no idea in lying to Eren. He could’ve said he’d be gone by morning and leave it at that, but he just couldn’t.

Silence fell between the two again as they entered the street where Levi's hotel was located. They came to a halt at the entrance. Standing there awkwardly, not knowing how to bid farewell to one another.

Eren was the first to speak. “So, when can I see you again?”

“Eren, we really shouldn’t--”

“Not this crap again!” Eren dragged a furious hand through his long brown locks. ”Levi, stop lying to yourself! I’m not a kid anymore. I know what I’m doing.”

Levi didn’t have time to reply as Eren took a hold of Levi's scarf and crashed their lips together in a forceful kiss. Levi tried to resist, he really did, but the truth is this is what he wanted all along: to have Eren back in his arms. Eren loosened his grip on the scarf, but Levi didn't back away. He kissed him back harder, wanting to savour every moment. It was wrong but it felt so right. They slowly parted for air, foreheads pressed against each other as they stood there.

Levi gave off a huge sigh. He was going to regret this. He knows it. But this time it was different. This time he wouldn't fuck it up.

“Come with me.” He grabbed Eren’s hand and dragged him into the hotel.

Eren smiled as he got dragged away by the man who he once lost.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i literally have no idea where i was going with this. like, this is what happens when you leave shit in your drafts for too long.


End file.
